From precise cooking to in‑line smoking
At industrial cooking and smoking, food safety, quality, yield and efficiency come together. Mastering these processes requires more than equipment - it requires a deep understanding of how heat, moisture and airflow affect food, and how flavor can be added in‑line, at industrial scale.
At GEA, we help processors master industrial cooking and in‑line smoking by turning complex thermal processes into controlled, repeatable results.
Cooking is about control, not just heat
Every industrial cooking process is a balance. Temperature, time, humidity and air speed all interact—and every adjustment affects product quality, yield and throughput.
Understanding these interactions allows you to:
- Achieve food safety without overcooking
- Deliver the right color, texture and juiciness
- Improve yield and profitability
- Maintain consistent quality despite raw material variation
That is what mastering cooking looks like in practice.
CookStar - the master of cooking
The GEA CookStar family is built around cooking mastery and extended with SuperHeatSmoke and HotSmoke capabilities to enable true in‑line smoking.
By combining double spiral oven technology with the atomization of condensed natural smoke, CookStar solutions allow processors to:
- Produce smoked and non‑smoked products in the same oven
- Apply clean‑label smoke, free from tar, ash and other smoke particles
- Reduce smoking times
- Achieve more consistent product quality than batch smoking systems
SuperHeatSmoke enables smoking at temperatures above 100 °C, while HotSmoke supports lower‑temperature smoking - both seamlessly integrated with the CookStar airflow and heating concept.
Control the process. Reduce energy.
Energy efficiency through oven balance
Energy efficiency in industrial cooking comes from precise process control. By managing heat, humidity, air speed and time, products are cooked only as much as needed - reducing overcooking, protecting yield and lowering energy use per kilogram without compromising food safety or quality.
GEA focuses on optimizing heat transfer, using humidity effectively, applying air speed deliberately with a balanced oven airflow and exhaust concept, while increasing throughput to improve overall energy performance.
Proven across a wide range of applications
Every product cooks differently. From delicate coated items to fully cooked meals, mastering industrial cooking means adapting heat and moisture to each application.
GEA ovens are designed to provide the precise control needed to deliver consistent quality, high yield and energy‑efficient performance across a wide range of food applications.
Coated and breaded products
Such as chicken, seafood, plant-based alternatives.
Roasted and grilled meat products
Such as wings, fillets, steaks, whole muscle.
Plant‑based and hybrid products
With complex protein and moisture behavior.
Ready meals and prepared foods
Such as lasagna, pasta dishes, meal components.
Fully cooked meat and poultry
Steamed or combined processes.
Smoked and cooked‑smoked products
For poultry, beef, pork, seafood and vegetarian components.
Products
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GEA CookStar
Master industrial cooking with CookStar. Steam, cook, roast or smoke in one oven. High yield, consistent quality, and unmatched flexibility for high-throughput food production.
GEA CookStar First
Discover the GEA CookStar First spiral oven – compact, energy-efficient, and designed for first-time-right cooking in small to mid-size food production.
GEA CookStar Turbo
The GEA CookStar Turbo is the world's only industrial spiral oven that combines impingement airflow with horizontal airflow in one oven concept. This brings that extra flavor, color and crispiness to the product that no other spiral oven can match, with the flexibility to cook a wide variety of products.
GEA FlowCook
With GEA FlowCook, dual-zone linear inudstrial oven, you can produce steamed, cooked and roasted products with a high yield and attractive appearance. For smaller capacities this linear oven provides an excellent choice of cooking.
Downloads
The principles behind better cooking
Masters of Industrial Cooking
Learn how precise control of heat, humidity and airflow helps you improve food safety, quality, yield and energy efficiency in industrial cooking.
Service Products
GEA Service level agreements
Discover how GEA’s advanced technologies and tailored services optimize productivity, sustainability, and automation for your food processing or packaging business.
Endurlon® guiding strips
Do you want to extend the service intervals of your GEA CookStar? Reduce your maintenance costs? Improve hygiene? Now you can with Endurlon™ spiral oven guiding strips.
GEA Insights
The breakthrough that changed spray drying
In 1976, NIRO engineers responded to a competitive challenge by rethinking what spray drying could do. Their idea became the multi-stage dryer MSD. Fifty years later, the same fundamental principle helps turn liquids into the powders used in essential nutrition products and important medicines around the world. Refined through decades of engineering expertise, customer insight and continuous development, MSD is a story of innovation with lasting impact.
Beyond the machine: unlocking better plant performance
An efficient machine does not automatically make an efficient factory. Real improvement often starts by looking beyond individual equipment and understanding how processes, energy systems and operating decisions affect one another. It’s a holistic approach designed to uncover opportunities that might otherwise be missed.
How a valve reshapes the way food and drinks are made
In food and beverage plants, valves are commonly operated using compressed air. GEA Hydract® Actuation Technology moves valves with water instead, in a closed, digitally controlled circuit. The result is a valve that can be held exactly in place and steered in fine-tuned steps. This results in lower energy use and greater control.
